Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank's consolidated profit after tax (PAT) grew 11 per cent to Rs 2,602 crore in the third quarter ended December.
It had posted a PAT of Rs 2,349 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
On a standalone basis, the bank reported a 16 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 1,854 crore in the quarter ended December, against Rs 1,596 crore in the year-ago period.
The bank's group President and Group Chief Financial Officer Jaimin Bhatt said, "We have seen growth in the quarter coming back. During this period, the expenses have been under control, and other income has grown. So, from a year-on-year basis, there is more efficiency which has got in there." Net interest income (NII) or core income for the October-December 2020 quarter increased 17 per cent to Rs 4,007 crore, from Rs 3,430 crore.
Net interest margin (NIM) for the reporting quarter stood at 4.51 per cent.
The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPA) stood at 2.26 per cent, compared with 2.46 per cent. Net NPA declined to 0.50 per cent, compared with 0.89 per cent a year ago.
"The bank has not classified any NPAs since August 31, 2020, basis the interim order of the Supreme Court.
"Had the bank classified the borrowers more than 90 days overdue on December 31, 2020, as NPA, GNPA would be 3.27 per cent (2.70 per cent as of September 30, 2020); NNPA would be 1.24 per cent (0.74 per cent as of September 30, 2020)," the lender said in a release.
It has, however, made provision for such advances including towards interest accrued but not collected for the entire period, with moratorium.
"The total provision has gone up and we have a total provision line of Rs 641 crore on account of advances which are coming in from proforma NPAs," Bhatt said.
As of December-end, the bank's COVID-19-related provisions stood at Rs 1,279 crore.
The lender has approved, for certain eligible borrowers, a one-time restructuring of 0.28 per cent of net advances.
Its capital adequacy ratio as per Basel-III was 21.5 per cent and tier-I ratio was 20.9 per cent as on December 31, 2020.
Its advances fell 1.23 per cent to Rs 2,14,103 crore in the quarter, from Rs 2,16,774 crore in the year-ago period. However, on a sequential basis, they grew 4.5 per cent.
The bank saw growth in home loans and the loan against property (LAP) segment, tractor financing and corporate book, including non-SME segment, during the quarter.
It, however, continued to grow slowly on the unsecured lending which includes credit card, personal loans, business loans and consumer durables.
The bank's Joint Managing Director Dipak Gupta said, "I don't think there is a segment which we are saying we will stay away from. We just have to watch some of the segments more closely before we start pressing the accelerator on those segments." He added that at this point of time, the foot has moved from the brake to the accelerator on the secured products. "In the unsecured retail segment, we need to be more cautious." The CASA (current account-saving account) ratio as on December 31, 2020, stood at 58.9 per cent, compared with 53.7 per cent as at December 31, 2019.
The bank's scrip on Monday closed at Rs 1,795.15 apiece, down 1.97 per cent on the BSE.
